The present invention relates to a system for enhancing the resolution of imaging systems by using a periodic pattern illumination.
Conventional imaging systems today, are characterized by a finite and limited optical system bandwidth. This limitation manifests itself in an optical system's optical transfer function (OTF). The transfer function of most imaging systems, including optical and electronic microscopes, characterizes a system by relating the spatial frequencies of an observed object or target, to those frequencies contained in a formed image. Many times, however, the resolution of such conventional imaging systems is not sufficient. In order to improve the resolution of an imaging system, it is necessary to extend the bandwidth of its transfer function. Increasing the bandwidth of the transfer function allows higher frequencies to be transmitted to the image. Several optical scanning systems have already been developed for just this purpose, such as the Confocal Microscope and the Near Field Microscope.
A transform space scanning imaging apparatus and method are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,951. The invention utilizes a different technique of generating a synthetic image from that of the present invention. The invention disclosed by the '951 patent utilizes a non-imaging receiver rather than a basic conventional imaging system. In addition, the invention fails to synthesize the transfer function of the object.